Peterborough: St John’s Parish Church

In the 11th century, the Abbey built a church for the townspeople on land to the east of the Cathedral precinct. However, this site was liable to frequent floods and so in the 15th century, the church was moved to its current site of the west of the Market. The new Church opened in 1407 and was partially built using materials from the original building. It 1651 it, like the Cathedral, was damaged by Parliamentarian forces. The parish records show that in 1665-7, the rector buried 462 people who had died from the plague (out of a town’s population of around 3000).

The tower was to prove troublesome and in 1820 the original spire was removed as builders felt it to be unsafe, During a gale in 1881 part of the Tower broke away and crashed down through the roof of the Church.

The church contains a number of original features including the 15th-century font.